A record number of travelers are expected to be on the roads in Iowa and nationwide over the upcoming year-end holidays and as demand for gasoline rises, so will the price.

Gail Weinholzer, at AAA-Iowa, says gas prices in Iowa are averaging $2.20 a gallon, an increase of six cents in the past week and 16 cents in the past month.

“That’s in large part due to OPEC deciding to reduce production, effective January 1st,” Weinholzer says. “It’s just a minor reduction, about 3%, but the intent, of course, is to push gas prices up a little bit so it’s more profitable.” Iowa’s current average gas price is up 25-cents from a year ago. Despite the bump, Weinholzer says the current pump prices are significantly lower than they’ve been in years past and it won’t keep people from heading out for the holidays.

Weinholzer says, “We expect just over 103-million Americans to travel at least 50 miles or more between this Friday, the 23rd, and Monday, January 2nd.” That’s a one-and-a-half percent increase from a year ago, or about one-and-a-half million more travelers, and the highest total volume since Triple-A began tracking holiday travel data in 2001.

“We’re seeing more people traveling. This is the 5th holiday this year that we’ve measured an increase over the previous holiday last year,” Weinholzer says. “Starting with Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and now Christmas/New Year’s, all five have shown an increase over the same holiday in 2015.”

The motor club’s daily survey shows Iowa’s cheapest gas is in Davenport at $2.09 a gallon while Des Moines has the most expensive average price at $2.33. The statewide average of $2.20 is four-cents cheaper than the national average.

The Iowa Department of Transportation has been preparing for a couple of days for the first statewide winter storm of the season that is now moving in.

Winter Operations Administrator Craig Bargfrede says the operators of the 902 plow trucks were making sure they have what they need to clear the roads.

“All the garages have been preparing making sure all of our equipment is operational. Making sure all the trucks are loaded and ready to go as far as materials go. Some of our garages have been receiving some materials the last couple of days,” Bargfrede says. Like a lot of other Iowans, Bargfrede and the DOT crews are trying to determine where the storm is going to hit.

He says they are watching the forecast, the air temperatures, the pavement temperature and the type of precipitation each area is going to receive and that will dictate what type of treatment they will use. They have a new tool this year — a GPS system in the trucks which will send back lots of information once they are out in the storm.

View from DOT camera on I-35 near Dows.

“Truck location, truck direction, it allows us to track type of material usage. So, it’s a tool that really helps our supervisors and our garage managers to be able to manage their resources better,” Bargfrede explains. He says they’ve done some pre-treating of roadways, but putting down more salt brine and salt doesn’t help in certain conditions.

“Once you get down in the low 20s into the teens — and based on the type of precipitation we are receiving — that isn’t quite as effective,” Bargfrede says. Winter operations can sometimes be in full swing in November, but that hasn’t been the case this year with unseasonably warm weather last month.

“We’ve been very fortunate that November was a fairly quiet month. We did have a couple of events that clipped the northwest corner of Iowa and one that hit the northeast, north-central part of Iowa,” Bargfrede says. “But as far as statewide events go, last weekend was really the first time for the whole entire season so far that we had a statewide event.” The plows haven’t been out much and that means motorists haven’t been on the road with them. Bargfrede asks that everyone take the proper precautions.

“We always ask that you take it slow around our operators and don’t crowd the plow. That’s a pretty famous standard saying that we put out there,” according to Bargfrede. “The operators are doing their best to try and get the conditions so that they are back to normal season driving conditions as quickly as possible.” The entire state is blanketed with winter weather watches and warnings, and most of the state is expected to get some snow.

More motorists were on the state’s roadways over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend than possibly any time in history.

Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Nate Ludwig says there were several factors that led to congestion on Iowa’s roads, led by people headed home to see family.

“Considering that gas prices are down, the weather we had, and the home football games going on in Ames and Iowa City, we expected this to be one of the busier travel holidays ever in Iowa history,” Ludwig said.

The patrol covered more than 100 crashes and made more than two dozen OWI arrests.”There was a total of 118 crashes during the four-day period,” Ludwig said. “Twenty-nine were arrested for operating while intoxicated.”

Five people were killed in those crashes. There have now been 359 traffic deaths in Iowa this year. That is an increase of 72 deaths over 2015, with a little over a month to go in 2016.

Supporters of ethanol are applauding a decision today from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw says the EPA has set the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for corn-based ethanol next year at 15 billion gallons, the level called for by Congress in the RFS law.

“That’s where it should have been the last two years, but they’ve been lowering it and we’ve been kind of having a disagreement with the EPA over that. We’re really excited. It sends a strong signal that we’re getting the program back on track,” Shaw said. Earlier this year, the EPA had proposed 14.8 billion gallons of ethanol be blended into the nation’s fuel supply in 2017.

It’s unclear why the agency reversed course and increased the RFS. “It’s hard to say, but the statistics really were just overwhelming this time,” Shaw said. “I mean, the amount of ethanol being used this year already exceeded what they had proposed for next year. So, how can you not say we can do more?” It’s particularly good news for corn growers who are struggling to break even on their crop.

“There’s definitely going to be an upward pressure on commodity prices, which is good,” Shaw said. Shaw also suggests the move will lead to lower prices at the gas pump.

“You’re going to start seeing more and more places offering higher blends, like E15 and E85. Those are lower priced. So, to have access to those lower priced, cleaner burning, high octane fuels — that’s a win-win for consumers,” Shaw said. While praising the EPA’s decision on ethanol, Shaw and many of Iowa’s top political leaders are criticizing the agency for its biodiesel target of 2.1 billion gallons for 2018.

Shaw says the EPA is “ignoring underutilized U.S. biodiesel production capacity and surging biodiesel imports.” Iowa is the nation’s top producer of both ethanol and biodiesel.

Drivers of the high-dollar all-electric vehicle known as Tesla may be making their way across Iowa more often, now that some super-fast charging stations are available.

Hy-Vee stores in West Des Moines, Coralville, and Davenport have installed the new Superchargers in their parking lots to benefit Tesla drivers only.

Tesla spokesman Will Nicholas says it will speed up long-distance Midwestern travel. “So our cars can come in here at no cost…and charge up to 170 miles in 20 minutes, which depletes the amount of wait time you’d have to incur when charging on a road trip,” Nicholas said.

More superchargers will soon be available along Interstate 80 across the border in Illinois and Nebraska. Nicholas says it will make owning one of the $70,000 vehicles more practical.

When people make a significant purchase like this they want to be able to use their car 12 months a year, for all purposes, and this enables that long-distance travel Midwestern customers expect and now can enjoy,” Nicholas said. He estimates, currently, there may be as many as a couple of hundred Tesla owners in Iowa.

Nicholas added, by the end of next year, the company hopes to sell a $35,000 model of the car.

The University of Dubuque is becoming one of the rare four-year colleges to add helicopter flight training to its catalogue of courses. The school already has about 170 students learning how to fly fixed-wing aircraft as part of its Aviation Program.

Program director Steven Accinelli says Dubuque decided to begin teaching students to fly choppers because of a rising demand for pilots.

“What we’re seeing is a lot of job opportunities that we haven’t seen, I would say five years ago we weren’t seeing,” Accinelli says. “We’re seeing companies that are looking for helicopter pilots. We’re seeing growth in the helicopter industry internationally.” The school will start offering helicopter pilot training in January. He says many industries are looking to hire helicopter pilots.

“There’s a lot of corporate transportation positions,” Accinelli says. “There’s things like logging, particularly in the northwest and northeast, there’s a lot of logging operations.” Other jobs are open for helicopter pilots aboard air ambulances and in fields like agricultural spraying and map-making.

The University of Dubuque is the only school in the state offering a Bachelor of Science degree in flight operations.

“The link between transportation and tourism is essential, allowing citizens and visitors alike to enjoy the unique offerings of this great state,” Trombino says.

The historic “Jefferson Highway” runs from Winnipeg to New Orleans. The 2300 miles along Highways 65 and 69 –between Northwood and Lamoni, Iowa — are now an official “historic byway.” Loring Miller of Leon, a booster of the project, says the Jefferson Highway was the brain child of Des Moines-based publisher Edwin Meredith back in 1915.

“Construction started in 1916,” Miller says. “By 1919 over 15,000 stenciled pole markers and 2000 enameled steel signs posted at mile intervals were placed on the route to guide motorists.”

The second new state byway is an 82-mile route that will originate in Winterset. The DOT’s director says it will guide travelers to the John Wayne birthplace and Madison County’s iconic covered bridges.

“Instead of a loop, like many other routes in the state, the ‘Bridges Byway’ is laid out like spokes of a wheel,” Trombino says, “with each spoke reaching one of the bridges.”

The third new “byway” is known as the “White Pole Road.” It runs 26 miles, between Adair and Dexter, just north of Interstate 80 along old U.S. Highway 6.

“The route had a historic claim to fame linking five small towns and highlights infamous events from outlaws such as Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde,” Trombino says.

Trombino expects the signage and promotional materials for these new byway routes will be ready for the 2017 tourism season.

Three already-existing state “byways” have been selected for upgrades. The “Driftless Area Scenic Byway” in the Decorah area will be extended by 44 miles. The Historic Hills Scenic Byway will be extended from Moravia to Honey Creek State Park, a distance of about seven miles. Finally, the “Iowa Great River Road National Scenic Byway” that runs along the Mississippi River will get upgrades. The changes will improve access to amenities along the riverfront and address safety concerns along the route.

A pair of automakers will pay the State of Iowa $1.4 million to settle claims that the companies misrepresented fuel economy ratings for some of their vehicles.

The case involves Kia and Hyundai vehicles from 2011, 12 and 13 (2011-2013). Geoff Greenwood, spokesperson for the Iowa Attorney General’s office, says prosecutors believe the automakers deliberately overstated fuel efficiencies of several of their cars.

“We also allege that many consumers made their purchasing decisions based on the window stickers and based on what they saw in these advertisements – that the vehicles got better mileage than they actually did,” Greenwood said. The fuel economy claims came at a time when gasoline prices were at historically high levels. This agreement follows a similar deal that led to payments to owners of Kia and Hyundai vehicles.

“In 2012, the companies announced that consumers who bought the cars could get lifetime reimbursement for the vehicles. A year later, they also announced a one-time, lump sum payment option. The companies contacted consumers directly regarding those programs,” Greenwood said.

The company’s $1.4 million payment to Iowa will go to the state’s Consumer Education and Litigation Fund. Overall, the companies are paying $41.2 million to 33 states and the District of Columbia.

An auction is underway today in Le Mars that includes more than 150 vintage automobiles. The vehicles, which range in model years from

the 1940’s to the 1970’s, are a collection obtained by Kellen Excavating of Le Mars when it bought the estate of Brett Conley. Derek Kellen says Conley

was once a mechanic, and started the antique car collection. Kellen says there’s been a lot of interest in the auction.

“The last three days my phone has been blowing, it’s been non-stop ringing with calls. The last couple of months I’ve had about four calls, five calls a day,” Kellen says. He says he’s been told people from Kentucky to Texas had signed up to bid in the online auction and there are others from across the U.S.

Volkswagen truck.

According to Kellen, the antique auto collection has several unique vehicles,some of which are very rare, including a special Volkswagen pickup. He says it’s a 1950’s era three-door split window pickup that had three doors and is rare. There are some other well known vehicles in the sale.

Kellen says there’s a Studebaker pickup and a Studenbaker four-door sedan and some Kaisers. There’s also several of the more common brand Chevy, Ford, GMC and International trucks. Kellen admits for many of the vehicles to be sold will be challenging for collectors to restore.

“They’ve been sitting since the 80s so the engines are locked up, they’re pretty rusty. Most of these cars are going to go for parts probably only,” Kellen says. “A few people are talking about restoring them — I think it would take a lot of time and effort to do that.” Kellen says they will have live bidding along with the on-line bidding.